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Welcome to Tigressland, my own personal little corner of the Internet where I hang out expressing my views about the smaller things in life. No controversy here (I'm saving that for the book lol) just the everyday minutiae that add up to my rather unpredictable, but always fun, life! So pull up a cushion and come chill.....and follow! We bloggers love it when you follow ;-) ~Tigress

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Thursday, 14 May 2015

Like fine red wine.

It has been suggested that the Kevman and I
possess rather a lot of red wine.

And in relation to many...I guess that's not far wrong.

But while we did have (what we would call) decent amount of red a while back (200+ bottles), this has slowly dwindled to a more sedate
100 or so over the recent year. This reduction has occurred partly because households are
more expensive once girlfriends are installed in them (thus less funding available
for wine purchasing) and partly because we needed some of our linen cupboard and wardrobes back.

You see, when I turned up, space was at a bit of a premium.

Now I'm not meaning to insinuate here that
all West Australians are pissheads...

But let me put it this way: A fair percentage
of ‘em know their way around the local bottle store far better than most sections of the local
supermarket....and they're not remotely afraid to demonstrate the fact.

Aussies (and many Kiwis for that matter) like their liquid refereshments...and
with the FIFO lifestyle being so prevalent in W.A. many have the finances to
back up the habit....including the Kevman who's had the funds for quite a while to fund whatever pastimes he so desired. And
as far as I could tell upon entering his home, he had.

Upon crossing his threshold for the first time,
I was presented with a well stocked bar that would make any party animal grin
with glee. Bourbon, rum, Kahlua, gin, vodka and various cocktail components glinted from behind glass, advertising that any sort of alcoholic
desire could be catered for

Well that looked fun...but where was the
wine.

I raised a quizzical eyebrow at the Kevman:
“This all very lovely darling, but where’s good stuff?”

On the night we met, the Kevman
and I had discussed our mutual love of good red wine and I will not lie, one of
his initial charm points was his apparent ability to tell his Cab Sav from
his Shiraz and not be phased by what he might encounter in a better than
average restaurant. He had mentioned a somewhat impressive wine collection, and
at the risk of sounding like a closet alcoholic myself....I wanted to ascertain
its location.

Just, y’know, coz I was curious like.

“Oh that’s in the linen cupboard”

Of course, where else would it be...

“There’s some in the office too; and the
spare room (this actually turned out to be bourbon); and those boxes by the bar...now
I think about it, they’re wine too.”

Upon perusal...I estimated approximately
160 bottles of grown-up grape juice.

I was speechless for a moment: “You sure
got enough?”

“Pretty sure we’re covered.”

I wandered around, furrow-browed, opening
things and generally being nosey: “You have three fridges...only one of which
has food in it.”

Behind the kitchen bench was a smallish
wine fridge where normal people would have a dishwasher.

Apparently that’s what the gypsy niece was
for.

“And there’re some really nice ports and
muscats floating around here too...think they’re in with the wine though.”

I didn't know whether to be impressed or
horrified and after helping to contribute to the wine total quite significantly
on our first trip away – bumping the total well over 200 bottles - I
demonstrated that I was not averse to embracing this drinking culture.

My body, however, is not really having a bar of it (Ha! see what I did there! 'Bar'? haha...geddit? Oh nevermind.)

I drink too much alcohol, I can’t stay sleep

I drink too much alcohol and my digestive
system starts to pack a sad.

I drink too much alcohol and I can become
jittery and fretful as the week progresses.

I drink almost any alcohol, my face turn
bright red

I drink over four drinks a week and I raise my
risk of breast cancer re-occurrence proportionately.

Well who's a pain in the arse then

But I have learned to listen to my body or
else it starts to speak with a megaphone. Things are little more balanced around here these
days; we still have a decent selection of reds that we have taken great
pleasure in selecting ourselves from various West Australian wineries; there’s
always good bourbon around, and winter will still be port season.

But now we also delight in other pleasures such as good food, good
books, good company and the wonderful games that have sat dormant in cupboards for
so many years.

Maybe we’re just getting old and
responsible these days.

Or maybe we’re just maturing

Like fine red wine ;-)

Have a great week everyone!

~Tigress

P.S. Alcohol, can be a wonderful accompaniment
to life, but should never consume it. If your habit is giving you, or those
around you grief...check out these resources and learn what’s up.